Mackgurl's Musings

So in my sister and I have decided to "get in shape" in time for an upcoming family reunion. Now, I'm not trying to whittle my way down to a size 0, just shed a few more inches/pounds...whatever. My goal is 20 pounds - and NO, I'm not telling you how much I weigh currently. Let's just leave it at I weigh more than I would like to presently. We started this family reunion countdown on Monday and have until June 30 to reach the goal. Boy, do I miss my gym membership right about now (but I don't miss the monthly dues!) Anyway, so I've started working out the cheap - ahem, low cost way...WALKING - power walking to be exact. For 45 mins, I walk as fast and as hard as I can in effort to get my heart rate up and work up a sweat. The plan is to do this AT LEAST 3x/week EVERY week but  I'm shooting for 5x/week. Hey, a girl's gotta have a goal, right? www.webster-dictionary.org/. ../power%20walking Additionally, I'm trying to eat a little health...

Mich. police: Drunken driver called 911 on herself :: WRAL.com

Police: Drunk Pa. man tried to revive dead opossum :: WRAL.com

 Which one of these two people is African? Photo copyright Chris Kirchoff.    Photo by Colin Mead. Copyright SA Tourism Go ahead, give it some thought...I'll wait (cue game show music....) Ok. All done? Great. So by a show of hands how many of you chose photo number 2?  Raise them high so I can get a good count (1, 2, 3, ...500,.....) Okay,  so quite a few of you. Now, just for fun, how many of you chose photo number 1? Anyone? Ok, there's one hand raised -ooh I think I see another hand - yep waaayy in the back. Well, the correct answer is - (cue drum roll please) Photo Number 1...AND Photo Number 2! That's right - both of these handsome young people are African. Surprise anyone? I'm sure it did. So why bring this up? Before I get to that take a look at these photos:     http://african-american-hairstyles.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/african-american-hairstyles2.jpg    photo located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin Wh...

This list doesn't really need much lead in. Suffice it say, it's a list of irritants that are particularly peevish to me. If any of these resonate with you,. let me know. If you have some of your own that you'd like to add, feel free. I will probably add to this list as the peeves present themselves. So here are a few of pesky peevers - in no no particular order: 1. Smokers - smoking is a nasty and  utterly unhealthy habit. In the 50's and even earlier, smoking was seen as the cool, sexy thing to do. Back then, smokers lit up in restaurants and movie theaters and pretty much anywhere else they wanted. The perils of the puffing away on the myriad brands of coffin nails and various cancer sticks wasn't advertised or even widely known. Until recently, smokers could still light up in restaurants - as long as they were in the SMOKING SECTION! Really? So the gray tendrils of death wafting from YOUR cigarette or cigar knew to stop at the invisible line, that usually ...

I thought I'd shake things up a bit. I've put away my fro - temporarily -  and am now sporting some two-strand twists. After all, it IS Friday, right? I've had twists before - of varying types and lengths. One set was done with the aid of some added hair for length. I had these done at an African World of Braids shop downtown by the lovely Fatima. the whole process took about 3.5 - 4 hours. They didn't last that long and they were quite expensive. Now, it wasn't the fault of  Ms. Fatima that they didn't last long...something about the added hair irritated my skin so I took them down. I had another set done this past December at a lovely shop in Raleigh, Sophia Sunflower Salon . Love love love this place. The entire process didn't take nearly as long, granted I didn't have any hair added this time. I would probably have gone back to Sophia's place to have my latest set of twists done except I was anxious for new style and wasn't sure when she w...

Like a disco maven from the early 70's...A bold, brash Foxy Brown - no not THAT Foxxy Brown. I'm talking about Foxy Brown ala Pam Grier (shut your mouth) ... (photo from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071517/) And who could possibly forget the unforgettable Angela Davis (photo newlynatural.com/.../ 2009/02/davisa_a.jpg) I strutted to work late last week with an Afro! Ok, so I've worn a similar look before but nothing like this.  I didn't try to make it look like a had a certain "type" of hair ( I refused to say THAT word in this context because all hair is good. Feel me?). I just decided to go for it. I picked it out and went to work. A few older co-workers saluted me with the fist bump (ok, corny but they were trying to be funny, lol) and a few just out right said "hey, I'm feelin' that!". Alas, it was the silent looks of disapproval that spoke the loudest. Was I surprised? Not even close. These same silent screamers were the same one...